1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to media playback. More particularly, the present invention relates to processing and presentation of media content.
2. Background Art
On-demand streaming media has become one of the most popular methods of media consumption. By offering users the ability to choose amongst a wide variety of user generated and commercially produced content, and by offering the convenience of anytime, anywhere access with an available Internet connection, on-demand media streaming has solidified its position as a killer application for today's wired media age. However, precisely because streaming media offers such a wealth of choices to the user, it may be difficult to navigate to relevant or interesting portions of the vast amount of media content available.
One way of manageably presenting from such a large catalog of media is to present only clips, or smaller subsections of larger media. This way, the user can selectively view only the segments of interest. However, to provide such clip viewing functionality, many services require that a completely separate media clip be generated from the original media, which results in inefficient use of server resources through redundant content. Due to scarce storage, bandwidth, and processing resources, users may find themselves limited in the amount of media content they can provide and view.
Besides clip segments, user variations or alternative versions of original media content can provide further options for tailoring content to user interests. For example, parodies using fake captions or replaced audio tracks can enhance the entertainment value of content, and also enables users to participate in the content creation process. Remixing and juxtaposing clips may also be a desirable feature, as well as adding intelligent playback behaviors. However, existing streaming video applications provide only a limited amount of user input for the manipulation of media streaming behavior, with acceptable user input typically limited to merely playback manipulation of a single media source without any further creative input. Users must therefore learn complex video editing software to achieve a desired result, a technical barrier that many users cannot surmount. Moreover, the resulting edited media requires its own hosting, storage, and distribution, which may be difficult to secure, particularly if a user is a prolific media content editor.
Accordingly, there is a need to overcome the drawbacks and deficiencies in the art by providing a way to present and modify streaming media in a flexible manner optimized for efficient resource usage.